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Financial Hardship Borrower's Assistance Program

Are you currently facing financial hardship? Assistance may be available, if you qualify.

Avoiding Foreclosure

Options to Avoid Foreclosure

The variety of options summarized below may help you keep your home. For example, you may be eligible to modify your mortgage, lowering your monthly payment to make it more affordable. Contact us to determine if you qualify.

  • Reinstatement
  • Repayment
  • Forbearance
  • Modification

Depending on your circumstances, staying in your home may not be possible. In this case, a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure may be a better choice than foreclosure – see below for more information.

  • Short Sale
  • Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
  • Don’t delay, as failure to take action may result in foreclosure proceedings being initiated on your mortgage.
How to Apply
Step 1
Download and complete our financial packet
Download Financial Packet
Step 2
Send us the completed information

Please see our contact information below for sending documents to us.

  • Sending electronically? Please contact us at (800) 582-9702 for secure delivery options.
  • Do NOT send the documents through regular e-mail as this is not secure.

Mailing Address
Union Savings Bank
Attn: Default Services
8805 Governor’s Hill Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45249

Telephone Numbers
(513) 842-5688 or (800) 582-9702

Assistance Agencies

If you are experiencing a financial hardship, you may be eligible for mortgage assistance from your state’s housing finance agency or another state or local government agency.

For a list of HUD-approved housing counseling agencies that can provide free foreclosure prevention and debt management information, information on State or local government mortgage assistance programs that
may be available, as well as translation or other language assistance, contact one of the following federal government agencies.

  • The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at (800) 569-4287 or www.hud.gov/counseling
  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) at (855) 411-2372 or www.consumerfinance.gov/mortgagehelp

Your loan may be owned by Freddie Mac. For additional information on how to avoid foreclosure, including help for military servicemembers, or to determine whether your loan is owned by Freddie Mac, you may also visit Freddie Mac’s My Home web site at http://myhome.freddiemac.com.

Your loan may be owned by Fannie Mae. For additional information on how to avoid foreclosure, including help for military servicemembers, or to determine whether your loan is owned by Fannie Mae, you may also visit Fannie Mae’s web site at www.KnowYourOptions.com.

The following agencies may provide assistance and/or information to you regarding assistance available during the foreclosure process.

For Save the Dream Ohio, please see this Fact Sheet from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

For Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund for COVID impacted families, please see this document.

Ohio Homeowners
Save the Dream (888) 404-4674
Indiana Homeowners
IN Foreclosure Prevention (877) GET-HOPE
Kentucky Homeowners
Protect My KY Home (866) 830-7868

Options to Stay in Your Home

Reinstatement

Overview: Pay the total delinquent amount you owe, in a lump sum payment and by a specific date or pay less than the total amount owed followed by a forbearance plan as described below.

Benefit: Allows you to avoid foreclosure by bringing your mortgage current if you can show you have funds that will become available at a specific date in the future.

Repayment

Overview: Pay back your past-due payments together with your regular payments over an extended period of time.

Benefit: Allows you time to catch up on late payments without having to come up with a lump sum.

Forbearance

Overview: Make reduced mortgage payments or no mortgage payments for a specific period of time.

Benefit: Gives you time to improve your financial situation and possibly qualify for a better option than would be available right now.

Modification

Overview: Receive modified mortgage terms to make it more affordable or manageable after successfully making payments during a “trial period” (e.g., completing a three month trial period plan) that requires payment of the approximate amount of the modified payment.

Benefit: Permanently modifies your mortgage so that your payments or terms are more manageable as a permanent solution to a long-term or permanent hardship.

Options to Leave Your Home

Short Sale

Overview: Sell your home and pay off a portion of your mortgage balance when you owe more on the home than it is worth.

Benefit: Allows you to transition out of your home without going through foreclosure. In some cases, relocation assistance may be available.

Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure

Overview: Transfer the ownership of your property to us.

Benefit: Allows you to transition out of your home without going through foreclosure. In some cases, relocation assistance may be available.

We Want to Help

Take action to gain peace of mind and control of your housing situation. Call us at 1-800-582-9702 and we’ll talk about available options and help you understand the forms and documents we need from you to determine if you qualify for an option to avoid foreclosure.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Will it cost money to get help?

No. There should never be a fee to obtain assistance or information about foreclosure prevention options from USB or a qualified housing finance agency.

Never send a mortgage payment to a company except the one listed on your monthly mortgage statement.

Beware of scams and anyone offering to help you for a fee (see Beware of Foreclosure Rescue Scams! for additional information).

2. What is foreclosure?

Foreclosure is the loss of your home through a legal process where USB or a third party acquires the property at a foreclosure sale.

3. What are the consequences of foreclosure?

You must move or you will be evicted from the property.

It may be as long as seven years before you are eligible for another mortgage.

You and any additional borrower listed on the mortgage may experience negative credit implications.

4. Will the foreclosure process begin if I do not respond to my mortgage servicer’s notices regarding missed payments?

If you disregard USB’s notices, USB may refer your mortgage to foreclosure as authorized by your mortgage documents and applicable law.

5. Should I still contact USB if I have waited too long and my property has been referred to foreclosure?

Yes, the sooner the better! If you wish to keep your home, contact USB immediately.

You may also contact a HUD-approved housing counselor (see Additional Resources ) and request a three-way call that would include you, the HUD-approved housing counselor, and USB to discuss your hardship.

A HUD-approved housing counselor can also provide free advice on debt management.

6. Can I still be evaluated for mortgage assistance if my property is scheduled for a foreclosure sale?

Yes, but it is important that you reach out to USB as soon as possible to discuss potential options. If USB receives your complete Mortgage Assistance Application with only 37 or fewer calendar days before the scheduled foreclosure sale, there is no guarantee that USB will be able to evaluate you for mortgage assistance in time to stop the foreclosure sale.

Even if USB approves you for a foreclosure alternative prior to a sale, a court with jurisdiction over the foreclosure proceeding (if any) or public official charged with carrying out the sale may not be able to halt the scheduled sale.

7. Will my property be sold at a foreclosure sale if I accept a foreclosure alternative?

No. Your property will not be sold at a foreclosure sale if you accept a foreclosure avoidance option and comply with its requirements.

8. What if I acquired an ownership interest in the property, such as through death, divorce, or legal separation?

You should contact USB as soon as possible. We are here to help you adjust to these events and provide you with information on where to send the mortgage payments. Please contact us to obtain a list of documentation that is needed to confirm your identity and ownership interest in the property, and to discuss next steps.

Beware of Foreclosure Rescue Scams!

Scam artists have stolen millions of dollars from distressed homeowners by promising immediate relief from foreclosure, or demanding cash for counseling services. HUD‐approved counseling agencies provide the same services for FREE. If you receive an offer, information, or advice that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you have any doubts, contact your mortgage servicer. Don’t let scammers take advantage of you, your situation, your house, or your money. Keep in mind, your mortgage servicer is not responsible for paying damages resulting from a scam. Remember, help is FREE.

How to Report a Scam – do one of the following:

How to Spot a Scam

Beware of a company or person who:

  • Asks for a fee in advance to work with your lender to modify, refinance or reinstate your mortgage.
  • Guarantees they can stop a foreclosure or get your mortgage modified.
  • Advises you to stop paying your mortgage servicer and pay them instead.
  • Pressures you to sign over the deed to your home or sign any paperwork that you haven’t had a chance to read, and you don’t fully understand.
  • Claims to offer “government‐approved” or “official government” mortgage modifications.
  • Asks you to release personal financial information online or over the phone and you have not been working with this person and/or do not know them.